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SPIRIT POWER 



MAY THIRZA CHURCHILL 



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Book_ 

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CDERIGHT DEPOSIT. 



SPIRIT POWER 



BT 



MAY THIRZA CHURCHILL 




NEW YORK 

E. P. DUTTON & CO. 

681 FIFTH AVENUE 



^M ^ 






Copyright by May Thirza Churchill, 1915 
Copyright by E. P. Dutton & Co., 1917 



First Printing, December, 1915 
Second Printing, March, 1916 
Third Printing, October, 1916 
Fourth Printing, July, 1917 



NOV 12 191/ 

TRANSFERRED FROS 
COPYRIGHT OFRCF 

UN 18 «» 



To MY DEAR 

Father and Mother 

whose love, confidence, and 

living faith have shown forth 

the abiding righteousness of hls truth, 

this book is lovingly dedicated. 



Contents 

Page 

Man's Neglected Gift, ; 9 

The Secret of Spirit Power, .... 21 
The Spirit Seeking Supremacy, ... 33 



Finding Freedom, . 47 



Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise 
From outward things, whatever you may believe. 
There is an inmost center in us all, 
Where truth abides in fullness; and around, 
Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in, 
This perfect, clear perception — which is truth. 
A baffling and perverting carnal mesh 
Binds it, and makes all error: and, to know 
Rather consists in opening out a way 
Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape, 
Than in effecting entry for a light 
Supposed to be without. 

BROWNING: Paracelsus. 



Man's Neglected Gift 



& 



Marts Neglected Gift. 



AN'S life shows growth in 
three directions: physical 
growth, mental growth, and 
spiritual growth. An abnor- 
mal or unusual physical development 
attracts attention promptly, but is in- 
effective in governing other lives. In- 
tellectual growth comes more slowly 
than physical, attracts attention Jess 
promptly, but when once attained, ex- 
erts a wider and more lasting influence. 
The ability to lead one's fellows in 
physical prowess or mental acumen is 
not a gift that is thrust upon one; 
neither is it to be accomplished by hap- 
hazard nor intermittent effort; but it is 
a result obtained by application along 
well-defined lines, by holding one's self 
to the regular, systematic training 
necessary to reach a desired goal. Both 
of these forms of development, in vary- 
ing degrees of proficiency, are common, 
for school work is now planned so that 
the physical, as well as the mental, 
growth of the child is stimulated. Train- 
ing in Spirit Power, however, is not, as 



10 Spirit Power 

yet, in any school curriculum, nor have 
plans for its systematic development 
been formulated. Notwithstanding the 
effort required to increase ability in 
every other line, Spirit Power, it is ex- 
pected, will be acquired unconsciously, 
without the natural application and dis- 
cipline necessary in other lines of 
growth. 

Youths with frail bodies are put 
under the care of trained gymnasium 
teachers, and a regular routine of exer- 
cise, diet, baths, and sleep persisted in 
until strength supplants weakness and 
frailty is exchanged for robust health. 
Early in life children begin the mental 
gymnastics which are to result in the 
pliable brains that will respond to their 
desire to know and to express their 
knowledge. Those who are mentally de- 
fective are placed in special schools that 
they may have the advantage of the 
most favorable environment. But the 
deepest power within the child, his 
greatest gift, that, if he knew how to 
use, could be directed so as to energize 
his whole being, is left untrained, ig- 
nored, wasted. There are few who do 
not believe in the power of spirit to rise 
above the weakness of the flesh and live 



Man's Neglected Gift 11 

in an unseen hereafter, but they are few 
to whom Spirit Power is so real, so vital 
an element in life that it is used here 
and now to overcome in the flesh. Many 
secret tears of shame over habits that 
canker the very heart of life could be 
transformed into the brightest drops of 
joy if we knew how to apply Spirit 
Power to the problem. There are many 
hopeless hearts carrying heavy burdens 
of physical disease whose heaviness 
could be changed to buoyancy if we 
knew how to stimulate to positive 
action the power that is wrapped in 
the indwelling Spirit. 

Spirit Power is so subtle, so hidden 
from physical senses, so varied in its 
forms of expression, that recognition of 
this force working in a life must neces- 
sarily be slow; it is accepted only after 
many indisputable proofs of its pres- 
ence. It is like the fragrance of a flower, 
pervasive but elusive, definite though 
imperceptible, irrefutable though intan- 
gible. No one has ever seen the fra- 
grance of a flower, nor handled it, nor, 
however acute the senses, heard it make 
a sound. Nevertheless the fragrance is 
often detected in a room after the flower 



12 Spirit Power 

has been removed. Just as unconscious- 
ly does the spirit of man influence his 
fellows. It is a positive, powerful some- 
thing that repells or antagonizes in 
some people, and in others is so attrac- 
tive it is a joy to respond to them. One 
person coming into a social gathering 
may suddenly change the atmosphere of 
a dull prosaic evening into happy hours 
well spent; and again in the casual pass- 
ing of a stranger on the street an inward 
instinct thrusts you to the opposite side 
of the walk. One radiated an atmos- 
phere so repellent that something with- 
in seemed to gasp with fear, while the 
other carried a hidden charm that at- 
tracted like a powerful magnet. Great 
artists have tried to reproduce this at- 
tractive, ennobling radiation, and the 
halo encircling the heads of saints is the 
result of their efforts ; but it can no more 
be pictured than you can picture the 
wind. Effects from its action are clear, 
positive, undeniable, but the Spirit it- 
self ever remains invisible to physical 
senses. 

In that Great Book of Biographies that 
has been translated into more tongues 
than any other volume and read by more 



Man's Neglected Gift 13 

people than any other literature, there 
are many accounts of men who were 
leaders in their age and accomplished 
great things in their generation not by 
might nor force of arms, not by any phy- 
sical nor political influence, but by the 
Spirit that dwelt in them and used them. 
Through their faith in the Spirit that 
prompted and guided them they " sub- 
dued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, 
obtained promises, stopped the mouths 
of lions, quenched the violence of fire, 
escaped the edge of the sword, out of 
weakness were made strong, waxed 
valiant in fight, turned to flight the ar- 
mies of the aliens, "( x ) and by their 
obedience to that Spirit established con- 
fidence in an Unseen Power who works 
for the betterment of mankind. The 
lives of these men teach that their power 
is the power any man may exert who 
believes Gk>d and takes Him at His 
word; who dares to believe that word 
when it is contrary to his own exper- 
ience, contrary to all human reason; 
even though it seem to be opposed to 
natural law. Many and varied must be 
the experiences before the individual 

(1) Heb. 11:33, 34 



14 Spirit Power 

himself has such confidence in the Un- 
seen Power working in him that he can 
say with Job, " Though He slay me, yet 
will I trust in Him." (*) Yet it is to 
such an apex of faith that these great 
men gradually grew. 

The first character to stand out clear- 
ly in this particular is Abraham, and he 
is especially helpful, for a closp study 
of his life gives an inkling of how the 
Spirit force grew within him and finally 
dominated him. You and I do not take 
a man's say so for the presence of this 
power in his life. We judge of its pres- 
ence by the way he meets temptation, 
the way he works out the problems of 
his life, by its manifestation in the triv- 
ial duties of daily living. So Abraham's 
life is judged by the same method as we 
judge men today — by the result obtain- 
ed by yielding obedience to this hidden 
force in his life. 

Like seeds hidden beneath the earth's 
mold that grow long in silence and dark- 
ness before coming to notice, so Abra- 
ham, buried for seventy-five years in the 
darkness of a heathen superstition and 
environment, grew silently, unobtrusive- 

(1) Job 13:15 



Man's Neglected Gift 15 

ly into the knowledge of one God. One 
day, in obedience to the call of his God, 
he left country and friends and began to 
come into prominence by this first pub- 
lic step of faith. From now on many 
and varied are the experiences to build 
up, to test, to establish that faith. At 
first simple, every-day experiences that 
would naturally come to a man in a new 
country with strange foreign neighbors 
and the perils and discomforts of a new 
environment. In some hardships his 
faith is at low tide, but this shows how 
human a character he was and how nat- 
ural and gradual his growth. Other re- 
corded incidents show him growing in 
confidence in the power and wisdom of 
his God until he reaches the climax of 
faith in being willing, when put to the 
test, to give up his most cherished treas- 
ure. 

Such Spirit Power has its roots so 
deep in the eternal springs of life, is so 
broad in its scope that it takes all the 
numerous petty details of a life, as well 
as its larger experiences, to prove its 
power — nay, to prove its very existence. 
The effect of Abraham's life is so far- 
reaching that today — four thousand 



16 Spirit Power 

years after his decease — he is revered as 
a spiritual father, not only by Chris- 
tians, but by Jews and Mohammedans 
as well. 

Very early in life the child Samuel 
yielded to the persistent Voice within 
him, and it was a rough and rugged path 
by which the great prophet was led to 
the height of absolute confidence in an 
Unseen Spirit to direct his life. In 
obedience to the Divine Voice within 
him he made and unmade kings and sur- 
passed the great High Priest himself 
in his powerful leadership of the people. 

Shall Moses be overlooked? — Moses 
who through communion with the same 
Spirit was able to free a race of slaves 
and transform them into a mighty na- 
tion? His life proved his consciousness 
of the power and presence of God as the 
only source of his strength and great- 
ness. Then, again, there is Elisha who, 
through the power of this Spirit in him,, 
restored the Shunammite's son to his 
mother's arms (*) and through the same 
power quickened the spirit of Naaman 
so that his leprosy disappeared, ( 2 ) and 
by the same Spirit opened the eyes of 

(1) II Kings 4:32*37. (2) II Kings 5:14 



Man's Neglected Gift 17 

his timid servant that he might see the 
Unseen Hosts of the Lord who fought 
for and guarded the faithful prophet. 

o 

The Book is filled with records of 
those who heard the Voice of the Spirit 
and with different degrees of persisten- 
cy and faithfulness let the Spirit work 
in them. These are not unusual men in 
the sense that God could do these great 
works only through these men, but they 
are types or examples of how He can 
work in any one who dares to yield a 
perfect and implicit obedience to divine 
promptings. God is "the same yester- 
day, and today, and forever; " ( 2 ) it is 
the medium through which He may 
work that changes and makes the work 
meagre in some generations and mighty 
in others. 

None of these men taught how to 
recognize the Voice of the Spirit, nor 
how, nor where to seek it. They lived 
in conformity with its teachings or 
promptings, and men marvel at the re- 
sult accomplished. When Jesus came, 
however, He not only did the works, 
but taught how He did them and 

(1) II Kings 6:15-17 (2) Heb. 13:8 



18 Spirit Power 

intended His followers to seek and to 
use the same power, since He said, "The 
works that I do shall ye do also; and 
greater works than these shall ye do; 
because I go unto my Father. " (*) 

Nineteen hundred years have passed 
since Jesus spoke those words. Tre- 
mendous advances have been made in 
the world of sciences; churches, philan- 
thropies, and missionary zeal have done 
much to better physical conditions and 
elevate the standards of civilization for 
the race; educational privileges are 
broad and free ; but with all the advan- 
tages little progress has been made in 
the knowledge of how to use Spirit Force 
for eliminating wrong conditions with- 
in and about us. We are enslaved by 
evil habits and know not how to find the 
place of freedom; we are harassed and 
hampered by physical diseases beyond 
the skill of medical science and our days 
are passed in an atmosphere heavy with 
anxiety, worry, and fear in spite of 
Jesus' efforts to arouse us by word and 
example to seek and find the place of 
peace, the fountain of health, the way 
to perfect freedom. Our churches teach 

(1) John 14:12 



Man's Neglected Gift 19 

the facts of the life of Jesus, the wonder- 
ful works He did, and how by His death 
He proved the power of Spirit to be 
greater than that of a sealed tomb. This 
knowledge is in our heads, and we are 
taught to believe in His omniscience and 
omnipresence and to say our prayers to 
Him, but we are not taught how to apply 
His power to our every-day problems. 
We are not taught how to exercise our 
individual spirits so as to bring to our 
personal use the power He used and that 
He said was for us. We go to church 
and study or readourBible;wesaymany 
prayers and sometimes under heavy 
pressure truly pray, but we are not 
taught how to pray that it may be effec- 
tive. We know not how to reach the 
source of power, of wisdom, of help in 
every time of need, and because of these 
failures there has spread a current be- 
lief that there is nothing more to reli- 
gion than a profession, or if there is 
some power in it to be possessed, as the 
biographies in the Bible teach, much of 
that power has been lost in its course 
down the ages. 




The Secret of Spirit Power 21 



The Secret of Spirit Power 

;HAT there is a real power in 
prayer must be true or it 
would not be so universal; for 
in every age, in every nation, 
in every tongue, people pray. The vital 
point of the question is, how to pray so 
as to obtain results. 

Occasionally people are met who say 
they do not believe in prayer, but gen- 
erally they mean they do not believe in 
the formula of prayer, and at heart are 
very much like a neighbor of ours who 
was frank to say he had no use for pray- 
er. One morning, though, under sudden 
stress, he prayed so his neighbors heard 
him and turned in his distress as instinc- 
tively to the Unseen One for help as 
though all his life he had obeyed Paul's 
injunction to "pray without ceasing/' 

His mother in lighting the gas range 
had an explosion that not only shook the 
house but lifted the lids, and a kettle of 
water from the stove. Her son, expect- 
ing to find some one terribly hurt, flew 

(1) I Thess. 5:17 



22 Spirit Power 

down stairs crying, "Oh God! Oh God! 
Oh God!" There was a splendid oppor- 
tunity for a fatality, but some power 
saved that household that morning from 
disaster and prevented serious results. 

Frequently prayers are said, but often 
it is a mechanical operation indulged in 
as unthinkingly as the daily routine of 
dressing. I remember visiting in a min- 
ister's family during special revival ser- 
vices in his church. His wife, an earnest 
woman, devoted to her family and 
work, returned from a women's prayer- 
meeting and made this confession: 

"I was so ashamed of myself today," 
she said. "We were all kneeling, and 
while Mrs. B — was leading in prayer, I 
caught myself noticing the church car- 
pet and thinking, ' We must have a new 
carpet here ; I didn't know it was so rag- 
ged. ' Then I remembered that we were 
there for prayer and realized the neces- 
sity of keeping my eyes closed if I were 
going to pray in spirit and in truth." 

On rising from my knees after prayer 
one night, I found my room-mate con- 
vulsed with repressed laughter; and 
when I asked the cause of her merri- 
ment, she said, "How many times are 
you saying your prayers tonight? This 



The Secret of Spirit Power 23 

is the second time you have been on 
your knees." So mechanically had it 
been done the first saying of prayers 
could not even be recalled. These are 
not uncommon experiences. They could 
be duplicated times without number, 
but they help to show how frequently 
we say prayers, and how seldom we 
pray. Shortly after this experience I 
began to write my evening prayer, so as 
to form the habit of concentration and 
exactness. After many months of 
this form of prayer, it was a happy 
surprise to look back through the book 
used for this purpose and find that real 
progress had been made in understand- 
ing the purpose of prayer. That there 
is a law in prayer by which results are 
obtained is true. That Jesus knew the 
law and conformed to it, His life proves. 
To find that law and then obey it is 
man's first duty if he would pray effect- 
ively; if he would come into positive, 
active Spirit Power. 

James said, " Ye ask, and receive not, 
because ye ask amiss. ' ' ( x ) It was start- 
ling to learn that this might not mean 
asking for the wrong things, but ask- 
ing in the wrong way; and with the 

(1) James 4:3 



24 Spirit Power 

broader vision of the meaning, came* 
also the impulse to seek and learn how 
to ask aright; how to ask so as to re- 
ceive. Some progress has been made — 
enough, indeed, to give the assurance 
that the method will lead to larger 
knowledge and greater power. 

There w T as no subterfuge in Jesus, no 
mystery, no evasion as to how He did 
His great works. Very clearly He tells 
the secret of His power. " Verily, verily, 
I say unto you, the Son can do nothing 
of himself, but what he seeth the Father 
do; for what things soever he doeth, 
these also doeth the Son likewise." ( x ) 

"For as the Father hath life in him- 
self, so hath he given to the Son to have 
life in himself. ' ' ( 2 ) 

"I can of mine own self do nothing;. " 

o 

"The words that I speak unto you I 
speak not of myself: but the Father that 
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." 

It is impossible then for us to express 
the same power that Jesus had in His 
life except the same Spirit dwell in us 
that dwelt in Him. If He could do noth- 

(1) John, 5:19. (2) John, 5:26. 
(3) John, 5:30. (4) John, 14:10. 



The Secret of Spirit Power 25 

ing of Himself, no more can we; if He 
was dependent upon the Unseen One 
for wisdom, for judgment, for power, 
none the less dependent are we. He 
must be allowed to work in us and 
through us as He worked in Jesus. The 
first step, therefore, in seeking the way 
to effective prayer and Spirit Power is to 
ask Him to possess us. The willingness 
of the Father to grant this request Jesus 
made very positive. The greatest hin- 
drances to this accomplishment are our 
own unwillingness and ignorance. We 
knownot howto yield to Him, how to be- 
come conscious of His presence. His 
entrance will not be seen; no physical 
eye will witness His coming; at first 
there may not be even an emotional re- 
sponse, and seldom is there any imme- 
diate consciousness of communion with 
Him. If, however, every day, time will 
be taken to exercise the natural spirit — 
God's first gift that makes us living 
souls and not dead bodies — if one is will- 
ing to take time to exercise this part of 
his being and make real and intimate 
the close relationship between his spirit 
and the Infinite Spirit, there will be an 
inward awakening to the knowledge of 



26 Spirit Power 

the Universal Spirit operating in the 
innermost of being with power. 

"What man knoweth the things of a 
man, save the spirit of man which is in 
him?" C) God is Spirit; He is also the 
"Father of spirits;" ( 2 ) and to worship 
Him, to know Him, the Great, Unseen, 
Universal Spirit that can work with 
such tremendous power in a willing sub- 
ject, is possible only through the natural 
spirit that was put within us at our 
birth. This is the individual's connect- 
ing link between the outer material 
w 7 orld of sense and form and the inner 
Spirit world of wisdom and power. If 
the spirit within us has had a dormant, 
passive existence, drifting with the tide 
of circumstances and dominated by the 
physical senses and desires, much exer- 
eise may be needed before it is able to 
restore to consciousness the transform- 
ing power of the Infinite One working 
at the center of being. 

To lead a lazy, indolent life physi- 
cally or mentally means loss of power. 
This is a recognized fact, and so the man 
who seeks success acknowledges the 
value of mental and physical gymnas- 

(1) I Cor., 2:11. (2) Heb. 12:9 



The Secret of Spirit Power 27 

tics. In the inner realm, also, the same 
law holds good, and the spirit must have 
its quota of exercise if it is ever to be 
able to use its inherent powers. The 
initial exercise comes with the asking 
of His Spirit to possess us, and it puts 
into practical application one of Jesus r 
first rules for prayer: 

"When ye pray, believe that ye receive 
and ye shall have." (*) Having asked 
for this gift, do not keep repeating the 
request. That is unnecessary since we 
are not heard for our much speaking. 
Now time must be spent in realizing 
that the gift asked for is granted. How 
is this to be done? By taking time 
every day — remember every day — to- 
put aside all thoughts of the day's pleas- 
ures or problems or duties and to hold 
consciously, persistently this thought: 
"His Spirit dwells in me. I have asked 
Jlim to control me and guide me from 
within. He is here. This day He lives 
and moves and has His being in me ; and 
by His power quickening me, I over- 
come. I yield myself to Him that I may 
be at-one-ment with Him as Jesus was 
at-one-ment with Him." To hold this 

<1) Mark 11:24 



28 Spirit Power 

or any similar thought that makes posi- 
tive His presence within is the first step 
in Spirit Power. To do this once would 
have no more effect on one's spiritual 
development than one lesson in the 
gymnasium would have on the muscu- 
lar development; but if persisted in 
daily, slipping into the wonderful world 
of sleep wrapped in its control, awaken- 
ing to the consciousness that this All- 
powerful, Infinite Spirit is in the inner- 
most of being, helping this Spirit to be 
dominant by yielding self to His power 
and giving up our own desires to obey 
His promptings, positive knowledge 
w T ill follow. There will be a deep life 
aroused within which brings a power to 
feel first and later to understand the 
right course in times of emergency; that 
shows how to influence by the spirit the 
spirit in another; that makes clear His 
will in us. Instead of thinking of Him 
as in the heavens or a power working 
from without, there is a real positive- 
ness that "The Spirit of the living God 
dwelleth in you;"0 that "It is God 
which worketh in you both to will and 
to do of his good pleasure. " ( 2 ) During 

(1) I Cor. 3:16 (2) Phil. 2:13 



The Secret of Spirit Power 29 

this period many new experiences come 
to the seeker. Experiences that Paul 
taught the early Christians to look for, 
to expect. How positive he made the 
communion between our spirit and the 
Infinite! "The Spirit himself beareth 
witness with our spirit that we are the 
children of God. And if children, then 
heirs; heirs of Gbd, and joint-heirs with 
Christ. " 0) 

A joint-heir with Christ! To share 
equally with Him in the power He used 
in doing the Father's will! A joint-heir 
with Him in the power that overcomes 
temptation from without as well as 
from within. A joint-heir with Him in 
the power to be all we desire to be and 
to do effectively our work in the world. 
Would you claim your inheritance? 
Then take the first step and begin to 
grow into the consciousness that the 
Spirit of Power is not in the heavens 
alone, not without you only, but also 
within you, waiting for you to claim 
your birthright. 

However far one may travel into the 
realms of Spirit Power, this spiritual 
exercise, like the scales in music to the 
musician, is never foregone, never left 

(1) Rom. 8:16, 17 



30 Spirit Power 

in the distant background. Just as the 
young musician practices his scales 
many times a day, so the beginner in his 
search for Spirit Power must persist 
regularly in this exercise until spirit 
strength is developed and spiritual con- 
sciousness dawns. Growth in this de- 
partment of one's being is as natural a 
process as in the other departments. 
Exercising the body brings muscular 
development and physical power; exer- 
cising the brain brings mental strength 
and intellectual power; exercising the 
spirit will follow the same law and re- 
sult in spirit strength and spirit power. 
In each line of development the will has 
its active part. By; the force of his will 
the lad holds himself to the drill on the 
running track, the cold bath, and the 
denial of certain foods ; by the same will 
power he holds himself to the mental 
gymnastics in mathematics, or repro- 
duction, or memorizing choice bits of 
prose or verse and learns to concentrate 
on the subject-matter in hand. Not by 
the force of one's will can the Spirit be 
compelled to take possession, yet the 
will plays an important part here. God 
does not superimpose the control of His 



The Secret of Spirit Power 31 

Spirit upon us, but also He denies Him- 
self to no one who truly desires Him. 
Since Spirit guidance is never thrust 
upon one, the first step is to will to let 
Him control; the next step, to hold back 
with the will the thoughts that usually 
dominate, and consciously to retain the 
thought that He is here. Our bodies are 
material things and are strength- 
ened and built up by material food; but 
spirit is made of different stuff, and is 
strengthened or weakened by the 
thoughts imposed upon it. Man cannot 
force the Spirit of God into control, but 
by his will he can hold back the material 
thought food with which he has been 
feeding his spirit in order that it may 
receive and assimilate that which will 
nourish and give it power. 

The way a magnet obtains its power 
may help to make clear the growth pro- 
cess of the natural spirit. A magnet 
can be made by putting a piece of hard 
steel near a magnet and letting it rest 
there for a time. Nothing will be seen 
to pass from the one into the other, yet 
that piece of steel will catch something 
from the magnet that gives it the power 
to attract just like the original. The 



32 Spirit Poiver 

steel does not strain after the power nor 
in any way force it to come in, but just 
rests passively near it, and quietly the 
subtle power possesses it. Take it away 
and test it; it has the same qualities as 
the original — the power to attract to 
itself and of infusing its power into the 
object attracted. So man holding back 
by his will the noisy, earth thoughts 
(the non-conductor of Spirit force) 
that usually control, lets his spirit rest 
in the conscious presence of the Source 
of Power that His power may be infused 
into him. 

Tlris is the first step in learning to 
pray effectively. When this at-one-ness 
is accomplished, the Spirit indites our 
petitions for us. Then is brought to 
pass the truth of Jesus' statement: 
"When ye have settled down in me, and 
I have settled down in you, then ye shall 
ask what ye w T ill, and it shall be done 
unto you'^ 1 ). 



(1) John 15:7 



The Spirit Seeking Supremacy 33 

The Spirit Seeking 
Supremacy 



WA 



NE of the sentences used in the 
opening service of many 
churches is, "The Lord is in 
his holy temple: let all the 
earth keep silence before him," (*) and 
often had it been a source of wonder to 
me why the waves should stop murmur- 
ing, the leaves cease from rustling and 
the birds from singing. "If 'The earth 
is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof/ " 
( 2 ) I thought "when He is in the midst, 
that is the time when water-brooks 
should sing, the birds should carol, and 
the trees on a thousand hills should clap 
their hands for joy." One Sunday 
morning in an instant of time, the whole 
idea was changed. The congregation 
rose and the pastor said, "The Lord is 
in his holy temple : let all the earth keep 
silence before him," and immediately 
there came ringing within me these 
words, "Know ye not that your body is 
the temple of the living God?" ( 3 ) 

(1) Hab. 2:20 (2) Ps. 24:1 (3) I Cor. 6:19 



34 Spirit Power 

Then came the realization that "the 
earth' ' which was "to keep silence 
before him" was not nature's music but 
my own sordid, selfish, earth thoughts. 
These were to be held aside; and in 
doing so, I, who am the door-keeper of 
my own temple, would thereby be giv- 
ing free access in the innermost of being 
to Him who waits for an opportunity to 
give the needed blessing. He who en- 
lightens the understanding and clarifies 
the vision, He who shows the way of 
escape from every temptation, He who 
strengthens with might in the inner 
man, He is ever waiting for us to hold 
back our own thoughts which fill the 
temple and let Him in. "Behold, I 
stand at the door, and knock : ' ' He says, 
"If any man hear my voice, and open 
the door, I will come in to him," ( x ) but 
one absorbed in his own thoughts does 
not hear the knocking; or if he hears, 
he makes no effort to prepare a place 
for Him. The man who seeks Spirit 
Power, however, must learn to hold his 
own thoughts in abeyance if he would 
be able to exclaim with Keplar, 'T think 
Thy thoughts after Thee, God!" 

(1) Rev., 3:20. 



The Spirit Seeking Supremacy 35 

This first spiritual exercise that has 
been suggested will give a different 
location in life to God, and will also have 
a cleansing, purifying effect upon the 
temple itself. No one who reads these 
words will need to be taught how to 
keep his temple clean on the outside, 
but all have not learned to keep it clean 
on the inside ; and if the passerby could 
look within, he would see filthy nests of 
foul thoughts which may hatch forth 
some day into ugly words and evil deeds 
that a lifetime of effort can not undo. 
It is true that one cannot prevent evil 
suggestions from coming; neither can 
one prevent the birds from flying over 
the head, but it is not necessary to let 
them make nests in the hair. An old 
adage says, " Cleanliness is next to God- 
liness," but is it not inward cleanliness, 
not merely outward, that is meant ? If 
the thoughts of the heart are clean and 
pure and wholesome, then the thinker 
may know that he is pure in heart, and 
Jesus said, " Blessed are the pure in 
heart: for they shall see God." (*) Only 
these steps: clean thoughts keep one 
pure in heart; the pure in heart shall 
see God. It is the thought world then 

(1) Matt., 5:8. 



36 Spirit Power 

that controls the condition of the temple 
within, and that way back in Jewish 
history was recognized of vital import- 
ance in the saying, u Asa man thinketh 
in his heart, so is he." (*) It is the 
secret, hidden thought of the keeper 
of the temple that invites or repells the 
Spirit that spoke and worked in Jesus, 
and whose control in any life brings 
peace and purity and light and happi- 
ness. 

The effect of living one's life in obe- 
dience to the promptings of that Spirit 
who knows the laws of life is first felt 
within in the quietness and assurance 
and buoyancy of the natural spirit. 
The spirit is consciously drawing 
power from the Infinite One, is 
feeding on the Bread of Life, and 
growing in ability to interpret the 
will of the Infinite. Unwholesome, 
ugly thoughts of doubt, malice, passion, 
revenge are supplanted by thoughts 
suggested by the Spirit; and because the 
mind is stayed on Him, there is per- 
fect peace within, whatever the condi- 
tion of the outer environment. 

Do not make the mistake of thinking 
that to live in this way means immunity 

(1) Prov. 23:7 



The Spirit Seeking Supremacy 37 

from trial or temptation. Was Abra- 
ham exempt? or Paul? or Christ? If 
there were no trials, how could the value 
of this power in life be proven? If there 
were no testing times, how could 
strength be established? Jesus never 
promised freedom from trial; instead 
He said, "In the world ye shall have 
tribulation. ' ' (*) This statement is fol- 
lowed by an exhortation which shows 
the spirit in which it is to be met. "Be 
of good cheer." "This is heroic. Cheer- 
fulness under trial requires a strong 
spirit unshaken in its confidence that 
it is a temporary condition or necessary 
for the building up of the inner man. 
It is the expectation of a happy result 
to be attained that keeps one cheerful 
and patient under trying circum- 
stances; that lifts one above the physi- 
cal or mental discomfort. Some people 
under trial are like a collapsed balloon, 
helpless creatures clinging to the 
earth and weighted by their own 
thoughts of the unhappy conditions; 
but these same people might be infused 
with a power that would lift the 
thoughts above the painful situation 
and, like the inflated balloon, keep the 
spirit in the higher ether. The power 

(1) John, 16:33. 



38 Spirit Power 

infused is Spirit Power that gives posi- 
tive assurance that in some way known 
to Him it will result in the greatest 
good. To bring about this greatest 
good, however, it is necessary to "look 
not at the things which are seen, but at 
the things which are not seen;" ( x ) not 
at the details of the disaster, but the 
Power working from within to bring 
order out of chaos and peace from un- 
rest. Imagine yourself meeting trials 
by looking for the good that is to grow 
out of them; by seeking through the 
Spirit the way of escape that God has 
made for every temptation that may be- 
set His people. Can you picture anyone 
meeting trials in this way and not grow- 
ing strong in spirit and cheerful because 
he lives above the trial instead of in it? 
Following the exhortation, "Be of good 
cheer" Jesus makes this statement, "I 
have overcome the world," implying 
that in so doing He has shown us how 
to overcome also by the same Spirit in 
us. 

While forming the habit of recogniz- 
ing Him within, another exercise natur- 
ally coincides and is put into prac- 
tice with every difficulty that arises, 
with every uncertainty as to the right 

(1) II Cor. 4:18 



The Spirit Seeking Supremacy 39 

course, with every problem in life. In- 
stead of asking advice from this friend 
and that and becoming more confused 
because their advice does not agree; in- 
stead of seeking help outside, look with- 
in to the Spirit who seeks to guide you 
and ask." What do You want me to do % ' ? 
Naturally in the first attempts the an- 
swer will be uncertain, unsatisfactory, 
for the Voice within is not as yet a fa- 
miliar voice ; neither does the individual 
spirit become immediately responsive to 
the Infinite in its ability to receive or 
interpret for you. But keep at it; persist 
in it; aim for the goal of which Isaiah 
speaks, "And thine ears shall hear a 
word behind thee, saying, This is the 
way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the 
right hand, and when ye turn to the 
left." 0) 

Paul, in persecuting the Christians, 
believed he was doing God service. His 
heart was right in that he wanted to 
serve God. He was facing God-ward 
through a terrible work but with an 
honest soul, and God made clear to him 
his mistake. Then with Paul it was, 
Right about, face! and, leaving the 
ranks of the persecutors, he allied him- 
self with the persecuted Christians, In 

(1) Is. 30:21 



40 Spirit Power 

your problem, if there is no positive 
prompting, choose what you believe to 
be right and go ahead, trusting that if 
the choice is a wrong one He will stop 
you. Then if not permitted to go the 
chosen way, accept the overruling with 
a grateful heart because you have been 
held to the right course. Is a text needed 
to assure our right to ask for such guid- 
ance? Listen: "If any of you lack wis- 
dom, let him ask of God, that giveth to 
all men liberally, and upbraideth not; 
and it shall be given him. But let him 
ask in faith, nothing wavering." (*) He 
whom you ask is not far off in the 
heavens now but is consciously within 
you; and the unwavering faith in which 
you ask is not necessarily in the way or 
the method you have chosen, but that 
you will be led to do the right thing to 
bring about the desired result. 

A friend who was seeking this posi- 
tive knowledge within herself came to 
me one day very downcast and said : 

"I am so discouraged. I did trust 
Him with a certain problem; I did what 
I thought He wanted me to do as well 
as I could, but it has all gone wrong," 
and the hot tears coursed swiftly from 

(1) James 1:5 



The Spirit Seeking Supremacy 41 

their hidden wells. I knew the keen 
edge of her grief was not so much be- 
cause the material thing had gone 
wrong as that she had failed to under- 
stand Him, and she thought He had dis- 
appointed her. Very gently I said: 

"I know you tried to do as He wished 
as well as you understood, and He 
knows it, too. We both know also that 
all things are working together for your 
good because you have put your trust 
in Him. I do not know the nature of 
your problem, but I do know that it has 
not gone wrong as you think and some 
day you will know it, too." 

In less than a week her eyes were 
shining with happiness as she said: 

"The problem has been solved, and 
the result is beyond my greatest expec- 
tations. What I thought was all wrong 
was the best thing that could have hap- 
pened, and I am so ashamed of my tears 
and my lack of faith. ' ' 

How often people are deterred from 
taking lip a new line of work or attempt- 
ing a larger sphere of usefulness be- 
cause they doubt their ability to carry 
it successfully. If the larger work is 
accepted in obedience to the prompt- 
ings of the Spirit, there will be no 



42 Spirit Power 

failure ; for He who calls also gives the 
ability to do if one continues to rely on 
Him for guidance and strength. Just to 
have f aith, to believe He is within, is not 
sufficient, will not work out salvation, 
for " faith without works is dead." ( x ) 

Constantly that faith must be given 
expression in doing what the Spirit 
prompts. Obedience to these prompt- 
ings as well as they are understood 
brings clearer promptings and larger 
understanding. 

It has been said that this way of liv- 
ing is not exempt from trials, but many 
of the burdens carried now will be 
thrown off, and the new ones will be of 
a different nature. Those that are car- 
ried now are often of our own creating 
and the result of walking blindly and 
ignorantly. The man who travels with 
his eyes shut must expect hard knocks 
and disagreeable experiences that would 
have been avoided if he had used his 
gift of sight; and he who goes through 
life with his spirit senses inactive, un- 
trained, will reap a similar experience. 

The first hardships will be in elim- 
inating the discordant elements in the 
life, and this is often attended by great 

(1) James 2:20 



The Spirit Seeking Supremacy 43 

unrest, disappointment, and discourage- 
ment; but do not be afraid of it. TlTist 
Him who is preparing you for power 
and do not be impatient over the pro- 
cess nor with yourself. When the leaven 
is put into the flour, the whole mass is 
not changed immediately. For a time 
it is as heavy a lump of dough as though 
no transforming element had been put 
into it ; but give it time, and the leaven 
will work persistently through it until 
the whole mass is changed into a useful 
product. So is it when Spirit Power is 
taken into the life ; not instantly is one 
transformed into a being whose life 
shows the fruits of the Spirit; but if 
given freedom to work, the Divine Leav- 
en will permeate every department and 
perfect its transforming work. 

Is there something which has been 
withheld from your life you greatly 
desired; or some disagreeable element 
in it you long to have eliminated ? One 
of these conditions might fit every life. 
In applying Spirit Power to such a 
problem, how would one go to work, 
and what result might be expected? 
The first thing to do is to let go of it 
yourself and give it over to Him. Say 
to Him as you would to any visible 



44 Spirit Power 

friend in whose wisdom and power you 
have perfect confidence. "You know 
how greatly I desire or am harassed by 
this. I do not know how to deal with 
if, and I give it to You knowing that 
You will work it out for me/' or speak 
in any way that will make Him a real 
personality to you, and then leave it 
with Him. As much as possible keep it 
out of your thoughts; do not dwell on 
it, increasing its ugliness by imaginings 
or enhancing its attractiveness by de- 
tails it might never possess if you had 
it. "How keep it out," do you ask? 

Every time it comes into your thought 
world turn it over to the Spirit within 
vou and leave it there for Him to carrv. 
When circumstances require you to 
come in personal contact with the prob- 
lem, meet it unflinchingly, confident 
that the Spirit within you will speak 
and act through you so that you will 
do the best that is possible under 
the circumstances. Persist in this 
until a change takes place and 
one of two things will happen: 
either the thing desired will come 
to pass; or you will be so changed 
you would not have it different if you 
could. There are two ways of helping 



The Spirit Seeking Supremacy 45 

people carry a burden. One is to take 
the load upon yourself so that they do 
not have even the physical exercise of 
carrying it; the other way is to make 
the spirit of the bearer so buoyant, so 
happy, his burden is no weight to him 
and the carrying of it becomes a pleas- 
ure. Whether the change takes place 
in the outer condition or in one's self is 
immaterial; it is relief from unfulfilled 
desire that is wanted. Therefore, "De- 
light thyself in the Lord; and he shall 
give thee the desires of thine heart. 
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust 
also in him; and he shall bring it to 
pass." (*) 

It is the Spirit who is now within 
you to whom you give the burden; 
and in this experience it may be 
that you, too, will prove the truth 
of David's expression: "The Lord 
said unto my lord, Sit thou at 
my right hand, until I make thine 
enemies thy footstool," ( 2 ) or the mean- 
ing may be clearer if the phrasing be 
changed to the Infinite Spirit said unto 
my natural spirit, sit thou here, etc. 

This is the quickest, surest way to 
come into your birthright of happiness — 

(1) Ps. 37:45 (2) Ps. 110:1 



46 Spirit Power 

not a temporary, effervescent happi- 
ness, but a deep abiding joy that no 
person, no condition, no environment 
can destroy because its source is deep 
in the eternal springs of life. Each ex- 
perience becomes a stepping-stone by 
which to mount out of the self -life into 
a more intimate life with the Spirit; out 
of a life of discord into one of harmony 
with the Maker of our being; out of a 
life where our will crosses His into a 
life where our will is at-one-ness with 
His, and then will there be perfect 
peace. The richest cannot buy it with 
gold, neither need the poorest be with- 
out it, for it is without money and with- 
out price ; but each must seek it for him- 
self, and yielding to His promptings 
from within find his own pathway of 
peace, his own harbor of happiness. 
Whosoever you may be, whatever may 
be your condition, "The Lord is with 
you, while ye be with him; and if ye 
^eek him, he will be found of you; but 
if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. ' ' 

o 



<1) II Chron. 15:2 



Finding Freedom 47 



Finding Freedom 




HE enemy who lurks beside the 
path of him who walks this 
way, who sometimes grips 
the heart with an icy hand 
and defeats the cherished purpose is 
none other than our own Fear. We 
know he is a creature of our own imag- 
ination, an unreal thing, that has power 
only as we give it to him, but we permit 
him to hinder progress here as else- 
where. How often are we deterred, 
held back, conquered by this phantom 
of our own thoughts. It works the 
greatest injury in preventing us from 
attempting a larger sphere of useful- 
ness or a higher plane of living. Over 
many a meagre life that had large possi- 
bilities in it might be written, " Con- 
quered by the Fear of Failure.' ' 

From Genesis to Revelation, again 
and again, in many different phrasings 
resounds the command, "Thou shalt not 
be afraid. ' ' There is no command brok- 
en so frequently, so unthinkingly as 
"Fear thou not," and it is usually fol- 
lowed by a reason, "for I am with 
thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy 



48 Spirit Power 

God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will 
help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with 
the right hand of my righteousness. " 

o 

"Be strong and of good courage; be 
not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; 
for the Lord thy God is with thee whith- 
ersoever thou goest." ( 2 ). 

"I am with thee to deliver thee." ( 3 ). 

The terms of the covenant between 
God and man are very clear: "If ye 
walk in my statutes, and keep my com- 
mandments, and do them," ( 4 ) I will do 
so and so, and the terms hold good in 
our day and generation. God has never 
repudiated them. The trouble is with 
us; we fail to keep His commandments. 
He says: "Whoso hearkeneth unto me 
shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet 
from fear of evil;" ( 5 ) but if we never 
hear His Voice, nor take time to listen 
to Him, nor train our spirits to respond 
to the Infinite Spirit — if we do not do 
our part, how then can we say there is 
no power in religion? He who has not 
learned the happy secret of casting all 
care upon Him must worry through 
troubles or harden himself to them 

(1) Is. 41:10 (2) Josh. 1:9 (3) Jer. 1:19 
(4) Lev. 26:3 (5) Prov. 1:33 



Finding Freedom 49 

because the religion of Jesus Christ is to 
him only a word, not a power. Q) He 
may even be a worshiper of Jesus, but 
there is as much difference between the 
religion of the worship of Jesus Christ 
and the religion of Jesus Christ as there 
is between merely professing Christ and 
possessing Christ. 

He who holds the Burden Bearer far 
off in his thought is not able to shift the 
weight of his burden to Him, for that is 
possible only for the one who holds Him 
close in the innermost of being. He it 
is who knows the truth of Isaiah's 
words, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect 
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; 
because he trusteth in thee." ( 2 ) His 
confidence grows with every new exper- 
ience that calls forth his trust until he 
numbers himself among those of whom 
it is said, "Look at the generations of 
old, and see; did ever any trust in the 
Lord, and was confounded; or did any 
abide in His fear, and was forsaken; or 
whom did He ever despise, that called 
upon Him ?" ( 3 ) 

In times of an epidemic how subtly 
fear enters and begins its undermining 

(1) I Cor. 4:20 (2) Is. 26:3 (3) Ecclesiasticus 2:10 



50 Spirit Power 

work in preparation of a victim. Tlie 
air is laden with fears, and they travel 
on invisible wings from home to home, 
and we know not how to protect our- 
selves from them. Pear belongs to the 
thought world and can only be con- 
quered by thought — a thought greater, 
more powerful, more positive than that 
stimulated by fear. Has God prepared 
for this ? Has He given us any promise 
with which to strengthen the spirit 
within and make us conquerors over the 
fear that seeks to lay us low? Indeed 
He has, and it is so great, so compre- 
hensive that it strikes beyond the fear, 
to the epidemic that engendered it, and 
protects the one who practices it, pro- 
tects him who feeds his spirit on it. 
Listen: "Thou shalt not be afraid for 
the terror by night; nor for the arrow 
that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence 
that walketh in darkness; nor for the 
destruction that wasteth at noon-day. A 
thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten 
thousand at thy right hand; but it shall 
not come nigh thee." (*) This promise 
is fulfilled for the one who is living his 
life in obedience to the Voice of the 

(1) Ps. 91:5-8 



Finding Freedom 51 

Spirit within, " because " as Isaiah said, 
"he trusteth in thee." 

Oh, to be able to walk the path of life 
fearlessly; to take up one's daily duties 
without dread; to meet difficulties and 
not be dismayed because of the inward 
consciousness that no evil can befall — 
would not this be happiness indeed? Oh, 
to be strong in the positiveness of a 
close connection with the Unseen Power 
that is able to keep from falling and 
prompts to wise speech and right action 
in every emergency — is it not worth the 
seeking? 

There are other ways also in which 
this habit of living in obedience to His 
promptings shows power. Consider the 
effect produced when this Divine Ener- 
gy is used to overcome some evil habit. 
Spirit Power, when applied to such a 
problem takes away the desire to do 
the evil thing, literally creates a new 
condition and sets the prisoner free 
from the invisible chains that bound 
him. In modern life are many examples 
of men transformed by this same un- 
seen but powerful agency. John B. 
Gough, staggering through the streets 
or lying in a gutter, is a brilliant 



52 Spirit Power 

illustration. He let this mystic energy 
sweep through him in maximum power 
and not only recovered his own man- 
hood but redeemed many another life as 
with untiring zeal he went up and down 
the country preaching God's power to 
save from sin. An illustration that came 
under my own observation may help to 
make clear the application of this 
power. 

A half dozen school girls formed 
a "smoker." They would meet in 
some secluded place and smoke 
cigarettes just because they thought 
it was a smart and racy thing to 
do. After some weeks of this 
sport, they agreed to give up the club 
and stop smoking. It was then I heard 
of one girl's pitiable condition from her 
own lips: 

"All the girls said they would stop, 
and they have," she said, "but I find I 
can't stop." 

"What do you mean by saying you 
can't stop?" I asked. 

"Why, I stop for a time, and then the 
craving comes over me so strong that 
I'd smoke at any cost. I've done it over 
and over again. I just can't stop. Last 



Finding Freedom 53 

week I vowed I'd punish myself, if I 
ever did it again, by telling you, and 
I've done it again." 

" Don't you see you are walking on 
the edge of a precipice?" I said. "You 
are going to stop! The next time you 
smoke I am going to do the punishing 
if you will agree to do whatever I say." 

She promised, and I left her with the 
assurance that I should think out her 
punishment at once and put it in a 
sealed envelope to be called for the next 
time she failed. A week or more had 
passed when I received this brief mes- 
sage: "I need the envelope." It was 
some time before I heard how hard 
for her had been the obedience to my 
instructions, but she carried them out 
to the letter. In a few weeks came an- 
other request for the envelope, and 
again she held herself to the stiff punish- 
ment demanded. The third envelope, 
however, was different. There was no 
physical punishment in it; it required 
no screwing up of one's courage to do 
a hard thing; it appeared so simple on 
the surface that, when she had read it, 
she laughed in my face, saying: 

"That's perfectly ridiculous. It will 



54 Spirit Power 

never do one bit of good; it's too easy to 
help anyone." 

"Try it," I answered, "and then re- 
port." 

In two days she was exclaiming, "I 
can't do it; it's the hardest thing I ever 
did in my life. It's absolutely impos- 
sible for me. You'll have to write 
another. ' ' 

"No," I said, "you promised to do as 
I told you, and I hold you to your prom- 
ise. Every alternate Sunday I want 
your report on the time spent in this 
way. ' ' 

This was the task given. For ten 
minutes every day she was to go alone 
and with eyes shut was to think this one 
thought: "God is greater than this, and 
He helps me to overcome. His Spirit 
in me cleanses me from this desire." 
Spring lengthened into summer, and 
there was no call for the fourth envel- 
ope. School closed, and she left town 
for her vacation, but regularly she 
mailed me her report. It was late in 
July when there came a joyous letter of 
victory. "I have had three of the stiff- 
est temptations I ever had," she wrote, 



Finding Freedom 55 

"and I don't even want it. I'm free! 
I'm free! I'm free!" 

This young friend of mine was no 
w r eak-willed girl. From earliest child- 
hood she had shown a fearless, positive 
nature and had ruled her friends and 
family with a strong hand. If she had 
been lacking in will power, she never 
would have held herself to the hard 
tasks given; but neither will power, nor 
dread of punishment, nor shame that 
followed failure — nothing held her back 
when possessed by the craving; but 
where human means failed, the power 
of His Spirit conquered. 

In the effort to conquer by will there 
is the tense nerve condition, the set jaw 
and clenched fist attitude of "I won't 
do it; I won't." In overcoming by the 
Spirit there is no tenseness, no nerve 
strain, but just a quiet relaxing, a 
loosening of nerve tension and letting 
His Spirit control. There is no habit so 
thoroughly ingrained but that it can be 
overcome by this power. 

In helping another to come into this 
freedom it is not to pray, "O God, help 
him! O God, save him!" God is more 
willing to do that than we can possibly 



56 Spirit Power 

be to have Him do it. The helper's part 
is to strengthen the victim's faith in 
God's willingness and power and to 
show him how to open the way that the 
Spirit may possess him and do the trans- 
forming work. Not to keep repeating, 
"God, help him;" but in the qnietness 
of your own spirit with perfect assur- 
ance that His power is fully equal to the 
case, to hold positively, "God, Thou art 
here. Thy Spirit in him takes away the 
desire for this evil thing; by Thy Spirit 
in him, he overcomes." It is again the 
application of "When ye pray, believe 
that ye receive, and ye have," only now 
you are making positive a new condi- 
tion for another when before you did it 
for yourself. Now you are supplement- 
ing another's effort by infusing into him 
the confidence in this Unseen Power 
that you have proven. You cannot 
change conditions, but you can show an- 
other how to open the heart's door to 
Him who can change conditions. Your 
faithful obedience to the promptings of 
His Spirit within you will quicken the 
spirit in another, and he will catch 
from you confidence and faith to let 
His Spirit work within him. 



Finding Freedom 57 

There are cases where the Divine 
Force acted instantaneously, where the 
Energy flowed so abundantly with such 
tremendous power that there were no 
lapses into the former state. There are 
also many more cases where the ham- 
pered one after many stumblings grew 
into power to rise above the evil habit. 
Whether the victim be yourself or an- 
other whom you seek to help, in times 
of weakness and failure there must be 
the patience that forgives seventy times 
seven if necessary, and even while yield- 
ing to the habit to still hold positively, 
persistently, "God, Thou art here even 
now. Thy Spirit strengthens with 
might in the inner man and brings us 
off more than conquerors." It requires 
faith to help others in this way, but it 
is the "faith which worketh through 
love." O 

The same Spirit that gives the vic- 
tory over evil habits has also power 
over every other physical weakness if 
the victim but dare to trust himself to 
that power. Men of today who read the 
accounts of Jesus' work with the lame, 
the blind, the lepers, the diseased of 
every kind marvel over the results ac- 
complished and wish such power were 

(1) Gal. 5:6 



58 Spirit Power 

still with us on the earth. It is with us 
in the domain of the spirit nature; but 
being ignorant, we have neglected the 
gift; not having tested and proven it, 
we have no assurance that it exists. It 
is not irrational to infer that when 
Jesus said, "I am come that ye might 
have life, and that ye might have it more 
abundantly, ' ' (*) He meant not only an 
influx of spiritual power to overcome 
evil habits, distempers, selfishness, fear, 
and the like, but also that this same 
Spirit Power should stimulate us physi- 
cally if w r e would apply it to that end. 
It is not by ignoring the danger or 
disease, that one conquers; but rather 
by recognizing the need of help and call- 
ing on the Spirit within to stimulate the 
vital forces to the necessary action to 
protect from or eliminate the evil. It 
is taking time in the quietness and 
assurance of one's inner being to draw 
to one's self more of LIFE that Jesus 
represented. There is a tremendous, a 
vital difference between ignoring weak- 
ness of the flesh and applying the power 
of the Infinite Spirit of Life to the con- 
dition. The latter requires more posi- 
tive, continuous effort than holding 

(1) John 10:10 



Finding Freedom 59 

one 's self to the methodical taking of a 
drug; but if the victim dare trust him- 
self to that Unseen Physician, his unfal- 
tering faith in that power to heal will 
bring abundant reward. 

It is no easy task when beset by pain, 
or other indications of approaching ill- 
ness, to hold one's imagination back 
from the path toward which fear points 
and where doctors, nurses, and hospitals 
loom in misty outline with the contour 
of an open grave in the background. It 
is no trivial thing to restrain the fear 
excited imagination and trust confi- 
dently in the Unseen Spirit of Life to 
stimulate into activity sluggish organs 
or functions of the body and change 
conditions. Once, indeed, has the happy 
experience been mine of finding instan- 
taneous relief that was permanent, but 
usually hours and sometimes days of 
quiet positive holding to His power 
working in me have been necessary to 
eradicate the forebodings of ill. The 
one experience, however, confirmed the 
belief that there is an unseen reservoir 
of healing power and strength for our 
use, and that when one learns through 
the Spirit how to connect with it, he will 
have found power to rise above the 



60 Spirit Power 

i : 

limitations of the flesh here and now, 
and that the natural birthright of free- 
dom from pain and sickness will have 
been recovered. 

Way back in the wilderness exper- 
ience of the Hebrew race God speaks 
through Moses of this same power, "For 
I am the Lord that healeth thee." ( x ) 
Later David exclaims, "Bless the Lord, 
O my soul, and forget not all his bene- 
fits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; 
who healeth all thy diseases." ( 2 ) 

All through the Book are similar ex- 
pressions of the power of our God to 
overcome physical ills, and many char- 
acters portrayed in it exercised that 
power; but it is Paul who phrases it in 
keeping with Jesus' teaching. 

"If the Spirit of him who raised 
up Jesus from the dead dwell in 
you, he that raised up Christ 
from the dead shall also quicken 
your mortal bodies by his Spirit 
that dwelleth in you." ( 3 ) This is 
in accord with Jesus' words: "It is 
the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh 
profiteth nothing." ( 4 ) To come into 
positive, conscious communion with the 
Great Father, the Spirit of Life and 

(1) Ex. 15:26 (2) Ps. 103:2, 3 (3) Rom. 8:11 (4) John 6:63 



Finding Freedom 61 

Power, and to learn to apply His power 
to our individual needs means freedom 
in the deepest sense — freedom from 
physical ills and evil habits, freedom 
from the harassing lash of fear, worry, 
and fretting, freedom from doubt and 
the hopeless outlook into the great fu- 
ture that characterizes many a life. 

He who seeks to enter into the realms 
of Spirit Power is constantly putting 
into practice and trying to grasp a little 
more of the greatest fact in life. To 
hold one 's own noisy, desultory thought 
in abeyance and open the innermost of 
being to the Unseen Power, to still one's 
material thoughts in order to know that 
He is within and to learn His purpose 
for the life, this is as hard an exercise 
in concentration as any college course 
could give. The man in the physical 
gymnasium who can easily throw a hun- 
dred-pound weight finds a fifty-pound 
weight mere child's play; so the man in 
the mental gymnasium who exercises 
his brain forces on the hardest form of 
work and masters it finds minor tasks 
easy. Used only for gymnastic pur- 
poses the effect of such drill on mental 
faculties is marked, but there is a 
deeper and more important gain than 
this. 



62 Spirit Power 

To find God within one's self and then 
to worship Him in spirit and in truth; 
to train the spirit to responsiveness to 
the Infinite Spirit and then to yield a 
willing, happy obedience that makes 
Him truly "Lord and Master" — this is 
to bring self into personal contact with 
the Father, Creator, and Originator of 
Ideas. Now as in ages past, is He seek- 
ing for mediums through whom to ex- 
press Himself; and now, as then, His 
work is limited only by the subject. To 
be responsive to Him means progress 
for the individual; means the highest 
development of the natural gifts with 
which one is endowed; means a noble 
service for the betterment of mankind. 
Often it means a leadership in some 
sphere of action in which the Spirit 
wishes to express Himself. In which 
direction the work shall lie, the Spirit 
decides. Paul says : ' ' There are diversi- 
ties of gifts, but the same Spirit. There 
are diversities of operations, but it is 
the same God which worketh all in all;" 
( x ) and after his catalogue of some of 
the gifts of the Spirit, he adds, "But all 
these worketh that one and the self 

(1) I Cor. 12:4, 6 



Finding Freedom 63 

same Spirit, dividing to every man sev- 
erally as He will." ( x ) 

This, then, is the conclusion of the 
whole matter: It is possible for us to 
live consciously so that He is in us and 
we in Him. ( 2 ) As the light gleaming 
in the lantern throws its rays in every 
direction and suffuses the lantern itself 
with the light which it radiates, so we, 
letting Him who is the Light of the 
world shine out from the center of our 
being, find not only our whole being full 
of Light, but that this Light radiates 
from us in every direction as a subtle 
pervasive influence. Not only does it 
make plain the path of life for the indi- 
vidual, but it has power to protect and 
acts as an invisible guard to ward off 
harm and evil; it has power within the 
individual to change conditions and to 
heal; and also it is powerful in quicken- 
ing or awakening the natural spirit in 
another to desire Him whose name is 
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The 
[Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, 
The Prince of Peace. ( 3 ) 

A great treasure is hidden in these 
earthen vessels, our mortal bodies; a 
treasure fully equal to every need of 
man. Being ignorant of its power, not 

(1) I Cor. 12:11 (2) I John 3:24 (3) Is. 9:6 



64 Spirit Power 

having proved its efficacy, we doubt its 
existence or ability, and so suffer; but 
it is denied to none, for this is "the 
true Light which," John said, "lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world. ' ' 
(*) This is also the mystery of our reli- 
gion which hath been hid from ages and 
from generations, but was made man- 
ifest in Jesus Christ. All the power and 
all the mystery is made clear to us when 
we know "Christ in us, the hope of 
glory." ( 2 ) 

Then call upon Him, and "He will 
grant you, according to the riches of his 
glory, to be strengthened with power by 
his Spirit in the inner man: 

"That Christ may dwell in your 
hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted 
and grounded in love, 

"May be able to comprehend with all 
saints what is the breadth, and length, 
and depth, and height : 

"And to know the love of Christ, 
which passeth knowledge, that ye might 
be filled with all the fullness of God. 

"For he is able to do exceeding 
abundantly above all that we ask or 
think, according to the power that 
worketh in us."( 3 ) 

(1) John 1:9 (2) Col. 1:27 (3) Eph. 3:16-21 



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